The venture-captain shakes her head, "No, I'm afraid not, the guards don't have any leads, and the mayor has only recently become concerned when the number of disappearances rose to an alarming level. I wouldn't worry about too much, however. Focus on fully exploring the Crow before knowledge of it leaks out and we have every treasure hunter in western Varisia here."
"It would be my pleasure to work with the Pathfinder Society miss. Our paths crossed quite coincidentally and our objectives overlap."
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Mach folds his arms as he quietly listens to the news of people disappearing.
"Sounds awfully fishy--but yeah, this sounds like something the guard should get working on." He shrugs.
Of course, that being said, they probably won't look too hard.
Having heard from nearly everyone, Lady Heidmarch claps her hands. "Very good. Well, then I will wish happy exploring. I'll keep an ear to the ground in case I hear rumors about the Crow floating about the city. You never know, those Tower Girls promised not to come back, but that doesn't meant they won't try to sell their discovery to the highest bidder. Good luck!"
Without further ado, the venture-captain dismisses the group.
Before you leave, Lady Heidmarch informs you that she's also disguised the entrance to the Crow with illusion magic, so that the entrance the Tower Girls dug will not be visible.
"I am ready to be off!"
After picking up the last of your supplies, you wait until it is time to meet the boat down at the docks a few hours after midnight. Lady Heidmarch decided that in order to keep the entrance to the Crow a secret, you would be making the journey there with utmost secrecy. It's a cold, foggy night, perfect for hiding those who wish to remain hidden, and you hardly see a soul on the streets of Magnimar as you make your way down the steep street from the Summit.
At the docks you once again meet up with Yuli, although his son Igrich seems to be absent today. Instead, a large Varisian man has taken his place at the oars. With muffled oars you head out under the shadow of the Irespan, the fog quickly swallowing all sight of the shore. Enormous stone columns rise above you, each decorated with a different motif.
You finally arrive at the Crow, and find that the entrance the Tower Girls made with picks and shovels now seems completely absent, covered by a clever illusion maintained daily by an ally of the Venture-captain's.
Yuli pulls the rowboat along the basalt dock, helping each of you up as the Varisian man steadies the boat. Once all of you have gathered your belongings he throws you a quick Desnan blessing and rows back off into the darkness.
Quintus hops up and brushes himself off before walking back through their old paths.
"Well let's get back to that door and see what mysteries lie behind it."
Mach waves the boatman off and takes point.
"Right. On me. Let's see what else we left behind..."
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"This way, Milo," Um'bala says, leading the way, his hands shaking with excitement. "An unspoiled Thassalonian chamber! There could be great finds beyond those doors, friends. But stay alert - the Runelords and their servants were unparalleled at the arcane arts during their reign, and their vaults are still as dangerous now as they were ten thousand years thence."
Milo appreciates Um'bala's excitement adjusting the weight of his pack and gear he smiles as they move, "Or maybe moreso, no? Eyes, ears, and nose open, fellows!"
"Let us hope the traps and creatures that used to be hiding behind these doors are rusted and dead by now. Keep your eyes open guys." Standing Bear says and unslings his large hammer and clenches his hand around the handle.
Your group makes its way from the first "floor" to the fourth one, and then back down to the second floor where the magic door is located. Nothing seems to have been disturbed since you left, and the millennia-old skymetal doors still stand open. Beyond the doors, a long dusty corridor stretches to the north, eventually ending in a spiral staircase going down. The walls are covered in vibrant Thassilonian paintings that depict the creation of magical items. By the look of the accumulation of dust and cobwebs, no one has been here for a very long time.
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"Interesting," Um'bala says, noting the cobwebs. "Many Thassilonian ruins have background magics that keep up the place. Maybe the magics here began to run down faster than elsewhere? And maybe this area was built as a magical workshop - but why in a bridge? What possible purpose could there be to putting a mage's workshop in a pylon?" Almost as an after thought, the wizard casts a quick spell, and a soft glow envelops him, offering some protection against danger.
Milo takes in the paintings, "Yup. Housekeeping really has fallen off here..."
The party pushes ahead, sticking together and carefully making its way down the spiral staircase to a level that seems about equal to the level of the water in the bay outside.
At the bottom of the staircase it opens up into a passageway that makes a u-turn and heads north again. After only ten feet it opens into a larger, two-tiered room, but the party stays (safely?) in the corridor and only looks ahead, Um'bala and Quintus' magical light illuminating the space. Passages exit to the sides, and curving stairs descend from a balcony down to the main level of the room. There a green, scum-covered pool extends across the far (northern) end of this room, barely visible over the balcony. The floor and walls are streaked with dark smears of guano in thick layers.
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Um'bala feels a slight brushing against his legs, and jumps for a moment until he realizes it's just his robe being blown by a breeze. "Curious," he says, investigating the source. "There's a breeze, coming from that crevice. With the guano, my guess is that it leads to some sort of bat lair. Can we block that up somehow, just so we don't get swarmed by them while we explore?"
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Um'bala feels a slight brushing against his legs, and jumps for a moment until he realizes it's just his robe being blown by a breeze. "Curious," he says, investigating the source. "There's a breeze coming from up ahead, and I don't see a source. Might be magical. Also, mind that crevice - it's not large enough for even Mio to make it through, but a swarm of bats could. Does anyone have some way of blocking that up, so we don't get swarmed by them while we explore?"
Um'bala searches for signs of magic, but finds nothing in his immediate surroundings except for the magical items he and his companions are carrying. Momentarily focusing on the sihedron shard sends a pain through his skull, as the intensity of the artifact makes itself known. Luckily the pain quickly passes.
Quintus shrugs at the mention of bats.
"As long as we don't disturb them I think we should be fine. Otherwise I hope we have some alchemist fire somewhere."
Petronicus points to one of the vials hanging from his bandolier. "I have some right here. I hope to Hell that you have all brought some as well, right?" He looks around at the group with an expression that indicates that he thinks no one else in the party brought any.
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"I didn't, but I did prepare against the possibility," Um'bala says. "All things considered, a swarm of bats is far more mundane a problem than I was anticipating we'd run into." He gives a single laugh to himself, shrugging his shoulders. "We're the first people to delve into a vault over ten thousand years old, and a swarm of bats might have beaten us to it. At least it's not golems, or death runes, or something that dominates your..."
Um'bala trails off, lost in thought.
"Um, mind?" Petronicus volunteers.
I swear, for a smart wizard he can be pretty distracted sometimes.
"You know, it's always the things you DON'T plan for that end up killing you in the end. That's how my uncle died. Took every precaution to fight demons in the world: holy water, wards against domination, resistance against fires. But you know what he died of? He slept with the wrong woman and got stabbed by her jealous husband. Damned shame, that was."
"I guess I'm a bit old fashioned," Milo says as he takes out a hooded lantern and lights it.
Looking around, "Seems to me that given the guano on the walls, we're gonna see bats whatever we do....
"And if we don't, that might not be a good sign. After all, who or what got rid of 'em?"
Petronicus nods in agreement. "Good point, new guy. But if there are bats and there's a breeze, that means there's a connection to outside. No maybe this place isn't as hard to get into as we first thought."
Petronicus walks ahead and takes a peek into the wall crevice. "Don't see anything in there, but it goes pretty deep. Might be more around the bend."
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"Hmm?", Um'bala says, starting at Petronicus' reply. "Sorry, lost in some bad memories. Forget about it." He waves a hand in dismissal as he looks into the hole as well.
"Almost assuredly, Petronicus, but it would be a tight fit for Milo, and next to impossible for the rest of us. Let's keep this one in mind for now, and keep on moving."
"I assure you that I shall remember where this crevice is, fellows. After all, one never knows when one is going to need a crevice, does one?", Milo says looking at the spot.
"Lead on!"
As they reform and begin moving Milo pipes up from the rear, "Wait, you were talking about sex? And preparedness, Brother Krupt? Very wise."
Quintus give a sad sigh at Krupt's story about his uncle as they continue on.
"Poor man, going out of his way to provide some comfort to a woman on a lonely night and a knife is his reward? Truly this world can be unfair sometimes to the most chivalrous of men."
"Yes, usually it is the women who gets poked in those nightly adventures." Standing Bear says to add some mirth
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Having been quiet this whole time scouting for danger, Mach suppresses a snicker. "Guys, come on--eyes forward."
Too large to fit through the guano-encrusted crevice, the party slowly makes its way down the stairs to the bottom level of the room. It looks as if there are two corridors exiting the room, one to the east and one to the west. Both turn north and out of sight after only a short distance. The breeze here is easily noticeable, but what attracts everyone's attention are the two giant. four-foot-diameter translucent amoebas that sliver from the algae-encrusted pool at the northern end of the room toward you.
INITIATIVE:
That Milo is appalled by the disgusting creatures before them might be detected by the hesitation in his movements, but the hesitation is minimal as he grabs a flask of oil off his adventurer's sash, "Gah! Something tells me fire will work better than quarrels with these things.
OOC: Uncertain about format here and this is my first combat (woop!), but my intention here is to toss the oil and then light it. I'm happy for you to roll for me here, GM. Am I being lame and not finding/seeing a dice roller here? [I'm also on RPOL.com, which has one as an inherent part of the site.]
Oil: A pint of oil burns for 6 hours in a lantern or lamp. You can also use a flask of oil as a splash weapon. Use the rules for alchemist's fire (see Special Substances and Items on Table: Goods and Services), except that it takes a full-round action to prepare a flask with a fuse. Once it is thrown, there is a 50% chance of the flask igniting successfully.
Petronicus makes a disgusted face. "Blech, giant amoebas! Slow, but don't let them grab you!"
Quintus raises his hands and chants a few words before a beam of cold shoots out from his finger at the furthest ameobas.
Mach wrinkles his nose as he lunges at the nearest amoeba. "Eww."
His short blade tries to find something solid in the blob to stab...
Milo stops in mid motion and opts to draw a beautifully engraved Temple sword. His attack does not seem as graceful as it ought to be either because of its hastiness or the feeling of revulsion inspired by these creatures.
Milo walks up while drawing his temple sword and slices a small chunk off the closest amoeba, which shivers slightly in response.
Quintus follows up the attack with a minor magical spell that coats the entire creature in a shimmer of frost.
Finally, Mach joins the fray and stabs at the creature with his shortsword.
The severely damage amoeba extends a pseudopod that is quicker than it looks, catching the halfling off-guard and smacking him in the chest. The creature seems to be coated in some form of acid, as it begins to eat through Milo's tunic, burning his skin.
The second amoeba moves up behind its compatriot. Before it strikes at him, Mach notices that he can still see a half-digested bat within its amorphous form. It extends a pseudopod to grab the tiefling, but having seen its fellow amoeba, Mach is aware of its speed and dodges out of the way.
Grabbing his polearm, Petronicus rushes forward, moving into flanking position with Mach. "Tiefling flank attack!" he shouts, getting into the spirit of teamwork for a change. His strike completely obliterates the creature, spraying Milo and Mach with essence of amoeba.
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"Get ready to duck, Mach!", Um'bala cries, chanting some arcane words and causing electricity to crackle between his fingers. "DUCK!" He hurls the thin bolt of lightning at the remaining amoeba with clinical curiosity - just how do amoebas react to electrical stimulation?
Cast jolt, and fire it at the remaining amoeba. -4 to hit due to it trying to digest Mach.
Standing Bear moves up to a flanking position with the chelaxian fighter and slams the large cell with his hammer.
Um'bala's cantrip hits the slow-moving creature, inflicting some minor electrical damage.
Standing Bear moves around and completely obliterates it with his massive earthbreaker.
Petronicus smiles as he sees Standing Bear, Milo, and Mach covered in amoeba innards, with barely a drop on him. "That's why I use a pole arm, gents. Saves on the cleaning bills."
"Ah perhaps, but nothing gets the blood flowing like a little intimate combat doesn't it." Standing Bear says calmly as he swipes some of the goo off of him. He swing his hammer around a bit to get the innards off of there as well, "accidentally" hitting Petronicus' shoe with a piece of gunk.
"Oh terribly sorry there." Standing Bear says with a smile on his face.